At present, the standardization of 4G wireless communication system is being carried out in 3GPP (Third Generation Partnership Project). The 4G makes it possible to use techniques such as a relay or carrier aggregation, thereby improving the maximum communication speed and the quality at cell edges. Relay devices (relay nodes) that performs a relay are described, for example, in the Patent Literature below.
Meanwhile, there also has been a discussion concerning MTC (Machine Type Communications) in 3GPP. As an application of MTC, for example, a next-generation power transmission network called a Smart Grid is considered. When the Smart Grid is applied to the electric power meter which measures an electric power consumption of each home, it is considered that electric power consumptions of geographically remote locations can be aggregated and managed. Further, when the Smart Grid is applied to the individual power-consuming appliance in addition to the electric power meter, more flexible power management is possible. As other MTC applications, a variety of applications such as an application for collecting information relevant to health care instruments, an application for collecting sales information in a vending machine or the like have been considered. The MTC terminal is a terminal designed specifically for these applications.